Ms. Davenport said she doesn’t usually attend political events but this time was an exception.
“I wanted to help celebrate and celebrate this momentous occasion,” Ms. Davenport said. “I really felt like she signaled that she was willing to tackle really tough problems, not just manage them.”
Even though voters said they are disappointed and skeptical About whether a direction could be adjusted, thousands gathered at the Microsoft Theater on Sunday to celebrate the election of the first woman to lead the city and the second Black mayor after Tom Bradley. , who retired in 1993 as the longest-serving executive in Los Angeles history. Ms. Bass is the latest in a growing number of women being elected to local leadership positions.
The ceremony featured musicians including Stevie Wonder – whose performance of “Living for the City” got the new mayor on his feet – Chloe Bailey and the Mary Mary duo. The event also features a reading from poet Amanda Gormanwho ended with a line that received a standing ovation: “Where there is a will, there is a woman, and where there is a woman, there is always a way.”
Attendees wore raincoats and umbrellas as they waited through security. Some are decorated in suits, others are dressed in sequins and Santa hats. As people streamed through the LA Live complex, guests held up their phones to take selfies in front of the theater’s porch, showing Miss Bass’s smiling face and her tagline: A new day for Los Angeles.”
Earle Charles, a professor at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, Calif., walks to the front of the line during his first mayoral inauguration in Los Angeles, where he has lived for nearly four decades. He said he was a longtime supporter of Ms Bass and trusted her to deliver on her campaign promises.
“Of course, one of the first things is taking care of homelessness,” said Charles, 69, who lives in the Granada Hills in the San Fernando Valley. “For me, that’s the main problem.”
Other attendees agreed that homelessness should be at the top of the new mayor’s agenda. Bertha Scott-Smith, 54, said she feels as though Ms Bass’s predecessor, Eric Garcetti, has struggled to make real progress on the issue.
